Newsletter September 2009

Welcome to the September 2009 Newsletter

In September Brussels has seen a flurry of activity to mark the beginning of the new legislative year, and the new European Parliament has commenced work on some dossiers of great importance for public health. For civil society actors this has been a crucial period in which to position ourselves for the next five years, and EPHA has made every effort to identify our new public health heroes. With the election of the new College of Commissioners on the horizon, our work on this front is not yet finished. Nevertheless, in the face of such wide-reaching institutional renewal it is easy to forget that many of the public health community’s concerns from the previous legislature remain unresolved. A great number of these issues can be traced back to the fact that, in many respects, the European institutions continue to address public health in an innappropriate manner. Policy-makers have been failing European citizens in the field of public health, change is needed. This should be our key message to the new MEPS and Commissioners.

EPHA has developed a set of ’Public Health Priorities’ for 2009-2010, and has been communicating these to policy-makers. In line with our members’ priorities, the public health priorities are clearly set out in order to reach the widest possible audience. The priorities reflect the need to re-examine the EU’s approach to improving public health across Europe, and the impact of the political, economic and social environment is clearly highlighted. Europe has a repsonsibility for health, and this cannot be dismissed by arguments of subsidiarity. Policies for employment, housing, education, budget, taxation, transport, agriculture, aid and development all have a direct impact on public health. This is one argument for action at a European level. Another argument is the continued rise of health inequalities within and between Member States. The EU needs to show sustained commitment to the task of creating healthy societies and sustainable health systems, which in turn will help to improve the health outcomes of those in society suffering the burden of social disadvantage. There will be numerous opportunities to promote these priorities in the coming months, including events that EPHA is organising in the European Parliament, and we hope to see public health at the centre of a social post-Lisbon Agenda. This will require a combined effort from the public health community but, with the strong evidence base on our side, public health arguments cannot be ignored.

Read all the online articles from our Newsletter September 2009

EPHA members can find the following new information in the Members Only section :

  EPHA’s Annual General Assembly 2009
 article 3625
 Call for EPHA Executive Committee nominations 2009-2011
 Policy Coordination Meeting 2009
 EPHA Health Systems SIG: Agendas and Minutes
 EPHA Health Determinants SIG: Agendas and Minutes

Please note that if an EPHA member would like to highlight their activities in the EPHA Newsletter, the deadline to submit a news item is Friday 23 October 2009. Please send your items to the EPHA Secretariat